Murder on the Despair Express (SYOC)
by SanityRequiem
Summary: Part Four of the Committee Saga. Where does life intend to take you? For Kazuma Kaneshiro, he finds himself stuck on a train with sixteen others that have earned the title of Honorary Ultimate. They are forced into a Killing Game by somebody who claims to be Monokuma. Worse of all, if they do not kill inside a certain time limit, a horrible fate awaits all of them...
1. Start of Something New

**Chapter 0: What's Mine Is Yours**

* * *

Residual darkness. That's what despair is now. It is fading away but it's still here, haunting all of our lives. None of us can escape it. Every nook and cranny is infected with the sins of our very own existence. Despair is something everybody has but I will do my best to quell its thirst for new blood.

"Kazuma, earth to Kazuma." Satoshi snaps his fingers. He is leaning on the bar while he cleans the last of the dirty cups. "Aren't you gonna order something? You can't just go into a bar and leave me hanging dude."

"I'm not of drinking age, Satoshi." Alcohol has never appealed to me in the slightest. Though that may seem weird that one of my friends is a bartender, I know he isn't an alcoholic. Plus something about this bar puts me at ease.

"Then why the Hell are you in a bar?" he asks. "You're lucky this is still the afternoon. If there were any customers, I would've left you for dead." Satoshi then laughs, indulging in his own dark humor.

"Because I like it here."

"You're a simple man." Simple? I guess that's a good word to describe me. Satoshi is good at that, perhaps because of all of the different faces he sees working his job as a bartender. All those faces must be refreshing to see. Being stuck as Kotori's plaything is never the future I planned for myself, but things never go the way you expect them. Part of the appeal of hope is that it's predictable. Then again, so is despair, with the middle being so as well.

"I believe you're one too, Satoshi."

"If you say so-"

"Hey, bartender! I need a fucking drink!" A girl suddenly crashes through the door and barely makes it to the bar. Both of us stare at her.

"Miss, are you al-"

"Drink. Now. Hottie," she demands. Everything about her personality screams drunkard but she has no other of the usual signs, other than the lack of the ability to walk in a straight line. There's no lingering, horrible alcohol smell. If this is how she is while sober, I do not want to meet her drunk.

"Alright, miss, what do you-"

"The hardest thing you have! Dammit!"

"Kazuma, can you escort her-"

"I can hear you!" The girl then begins to walk away. "I'll find another bar you assholes!" After flipping the both of us off, the weird girl exits the bar. This time she walks perfectly fine.

"That certainly was strange," I note. It is not every day I knock into characters like her. Perhaps I should visit this section of the city more often. From what Satoshi has told me, things get pretty hectic around here. The cities are infamous for many strange characters.

"Seen weirder." Satoshi then finishes cleaning and sighs. "One time there was this little girl coming in with her parents that kept telling everybody she was a magical girl. Don't know why they thought it was a good idea to do that, but they did."

While Satoshi goes over some stories from his bartending job, my phone begins to ring. I take it out of my pocket and see that Kotori's number is lighting up the scene. I sigh but answer anyway.

"Where are you, Kazuma? I need you here right now. Kindra's asking for you," she says. Although her tone is forceful, Kotori is clearly bored as well. She must have gotten bored of Kazuhiko for the day and moved onto me. Not for one second, I believe she actually cares about Kindra.

"Be there soon." I hang up the phone on her before she can continue anymore of her thoughts. Making up a lie about wondering into a dead zone is easier than listening to her for longer than necessary.

"I'm assuming Kotori wants you again. That's a bummer." Satoshi then picks something out of his own pockets. "Here. Have this. So you'll owe me one and return." He then winks at me.

"Sure." He then puts the item in my hands. When I look to see what it is, I notice that it's some kind of pin. A pin with a kitten on it and the words 'never give up.' It looks childish but I cannot deny that a part of me still finds it cute.

"Now go out there and take over the world!" I roll my eyes as I leave my seat. Satoshi can sometimes be annoying but he still has a good heart. I know that he is not the type of person to ever give into despair.

"If you truly want me to, I will." Then I wink back at him. I will not deny that sometimes I do certain things to get a reaction out of people, yet I'm not as bad as Junko. Junko is surely what I would call an interesting person.

"Get out of here, lover boy, and go break some new hearts." With that said, Satoshi returns to doing his actual job. The next thing to do on his list is to take stock of all of the alcohol.

* * *

I walk outside to feel the immense heat invade my being. Currently, it's about a hundred degrees out so nobody dares to walk the streets as usual. The sooner I can get back inside, the better. My jeans are not made for this kind of weather.

Walking to the nearest bus stop takes all the determination I have. The next bus should come in about ten minutes. Kotori might yell at me for being late, but it's her own damn fault for calling me out of the blue on my supposed day off.

"Oh, you're that piece of shit from earlier, right? It totally is you!" The girl from earlier then appears again. With that heavy jacket, I wonder how she is able to take the heat like this. "You're Kazuma Kaneshiro, right? Ultimate Hypnotist? Oh wait, Hope's Peak isn't a thing anymore! Honorary Ultimate Hypnotist!"

* * *

 **Honorary** **Ultimate Hypnotist**

 **Kazuma Kaneshiro**

* * *

I am tempted to ask her how she knows that but know I won't get anywhere. It is best to ignore her and continue on with my life. She most likely overheard it somehow when Satoshi and I were talking...Wait, we didn't talk about that. There must be a reasonable, logical explanation for all of this.

"Hmm, you're a weird one. Should you be like...how do you know that? Aw, you're no fun at all!"

"I'll be taking my leave now." I begin to walk faster but the girl matches my pace. She is very clearly stalking me at the moment. If she tries to do anything, perhaps I should call the cops. The cops might be useless nowadays yet they can still scare her off.

"C'mon, you ass! Get back here! I don't wanna actually try!" I then walk even faster than before, causing the girl to begin to sprint. That is when I take my phone out and start dialing the numbers for the police.

"Just one more sec-"

"You piece of shit!" Right as my finger finishes the number and presses call, the girl pushes me onto the pavement. Nobody is here to see it since everybody is still avoiding the heat. The pavement feels like its burning my skin.

"Hello, this is 110. What's your problem today?" The woman on the other side of the line is trying to hide her boredom. Mostly the police are called for little matters since nobody trusts them for the bigger emergencies. They would rather call one of the freelance organizations.

"I'm gonna tell you a lesson about fucking with me!" The girl then tries to punch me but I roll out of the way in time. But that she picks up my phone and smashes it to pieces easily.

"Crap..."

"Bye-bye, Kazuma Kaneshiro." Then the girl kicks me in my stomach multiple times before I pass out...

* * *

 **Yes, I'm officially insane. Here's another SYOC. With two out already. Kill me.**

 **Well, if you haven't noticed, or don't know the lore of the Committee Saga, this is a prequel. Yea. Nothing suspicious about this prologue. There are actually _three_ prequels to the Committee Saga planned (lord help me, why is there so much lore?) but none of the others are SYOCs. The other two are also fairly short but this one is long. For reference, this story starts five years before the rest of the Committee Saga.**

 **This SYOC will actually start in August, so you have all that time to create your characters. I want the best of the best for this SYOC. Plus, by then, FoD will be almost done and DiOS would be farther along.**

 **This is before the second Hope's Peak Academy so these people are all honorary Ultimates.** **Honorary** **Ultimate is a name either given by Matoko Kirigiri or Ayano Kirigiri. Most of these peeps will be given the name by Ayano, and being given the name by Matoko means they must be a rebel and part of the Future Foundation. Again, this story is lore heavy for the Committee Saga, so its best to read the other stories at least partly. Enough to know what the American Restoration Committee is at least. I mean, you don't have to but expect to be lost if you don't.**

 **Yes, this story is set on a train. What does this mean? Well, I guess you've to read the story to find out. ;)**

 **Now for the rules~**

* * *

 **1\. No Gary or Mary Sues.**

 **2\. No repeat talents except if there is a really good reason (looking at you Emilynn...I love you Emilynn). This includes the other parts of the Committee Saga which include...Forest of Despair, Despair in Our Stars, and Killing Game's Serenade by Lost One's Weeping. Please, no more jewelers.**

 **If you want a list, I shall give you one. If too many people give me repeat talents, I will put the list on here but I'm lazy.**

 **3\. You can only send a maximum of three characters.**

 **4\. PMs Only. No review OCs allowed.**

 **5\. No repeat OCs from currently running SYOC projects. I do not care if they are dead in the other story, but I will not stand for any.**

 **6\. Label the PM as Murder on the Despair Express - OC Name or something similar. This is to make sure your OC doesn't get lost in the deep, dark abyss that is my PMs.**

 **7\. Only one or two foreign OCs are allowed. As there are already many characters of English or American descent, you'll have to have a pretty good reason to make yet another one.**

 **8\. This is not based around high school. The age range for characters is 13-65. Have fun. XD You can make somebody older than the age range if you have a good reason, but not younger. I'm not comfortable with possibly killing somebody not in their teenage years.**

 **9\. No bullying allowed.**

 **10\. Have fun :D**

* * *

 **Name:**

 **Nickname:**

 **Gender/Pronouns: (up to two nonbinary characters will be accepted)**

 **Sexuality:**

 **Ultimate Talent:**

 **Height:**

 **Weight:**

 **Birthday:**

 **Age:**

 **Nationality/Race: (up to two foreign characters, would be preferred if they're not from America or England, as we already have a lot of those in this saga)**

 **Blood Type:**

 **Appearance:**

 **Outfit:**

 **Backstory:**

 **Personality:**

 **Free Time Events:**

 **Mental/Health Problems:**

 **Likes:**

 **Dislikes:**

 **Hobbies:**

 **Pet Peeves:**

 **What They Like in People:**

 **What They Dislike in People:**

 **Who They Love the Most:**

 **Who They Hate the Most:**

 **Romance:**

 **Biggest Fear:**

 **Biggest Secret:**

 **Possible Motive to Kill:**

 **Murderer, Victim, Survivor, or Mastermind?: (there is a chance that if you state survivor, your character won't survive)**

 **If Mastermind, reason? If Survivor, why?:**

 **Possible Method of Killing:**

 **Reaction to Killing Game:**

 **Reaction to Seeing Body/Hearing Announcement:**

 **Role in Investigation:**

 **Role in Trial:**

 **Reaction to Being Accused:**

 **Reaction to Execution/Being Executed:**

* * *

 _ **Males:**_

 **1\. Kazuma Kaneshiro:** **Honorary** **Ultimate Hypnotist (nothing suspicious here) (made by SanityRequiem)**

 **2\. Touki Yukimori: Honorary Ultimate Psychotherapist (made by RioA)**

 **3\. Ivan Pavlov: Honorary Ultimate Tracker (made by AnonChan1)**

 **4\. Heiwai Musubino: Honorary Ultimate Combat Medic (made by mayurie)**

 **5\. Gennai Doromizu: Honorary Ultimate Train Conductor (made by PainX65)**

 **6\. Asahi Ito: Honorary Ultimate Theatre Actor (made by tobi-is-an-artist-too)**

 **7\. Amaku Dokusei: Honorary Ultimate Baker (made by Wolffang1795)**

 **8\. Jin Saeki: Ultimate Card Player (made by Swordsman795)**

 _ **Females:**_

 **1\. Hanami Fukushima: Honorary Ultimate Singer (made by liammarklh88)**

 **2\. Riko Igarashi: Honorary Ultimate Bodyguard (made by Lupus Overkill)**

 **3\. Chitose Nobira: Honorary Ultimate Business Administrator (made by Scissor-Snipper)**

 **4\. Yaroslava Valeryevna Suzuki: Honorary Ultimate Film Director (made by ShadedLyht)**

 **5\. Beni Nashio: Honorary Ultimate Narrator (made by QueenofChocolateWinx)**

 **6\. Norika Kihara: Honorary Ultimate Judge (made by CommanderofInsanity)**

 **7\. Yuzuki Kuromiya: Honorary Ultimate Speechwriter (made by Lupus Overkill)**

 **8\. Machi Sakamoto: Honorary Ultimate Bureaucrat (made by Ziggymia123)**

 _ **Nonbinary:**_

 **1\. Yugi Bessho: Honorary Ultimate Copycat (made by ThePLOTHand)**


	2. Prelude 0-1

**Prelude 0-1: Ring Around The Rosie**

* * *

Shit.

I come to in some type of room that reminds me of old-fashioned trains. That is weird, though since the last time I remember older trains have been banned due to their high injury rate. The Committee is designing new models that I do not trust. Then again, I never trusted their reason for banning them either, just seems to be another way for the Committee to control the public. Next thing you know they will be burning books and putting people they deem unfit into some kind of camp.

Taking a deep breath, I take a look at my surrounding. First I check for my phone and find it is replaced with some kind of pad. That already gives me bad enough feeling. And, wherever I am, it looks like the eating area. I must be somewhere in the middle since I highly doubt there is only one car on this train. Kotori taught me enough about trains...for some reason...for me to know that.

Kotori is going to kill me once I make it out of here. And Kindra is going to throw a fit, and Kazuhiko will take her side like he always does. Why can't anybody take my side? She's the one who thought it was a good idea to place her hand on the oven! God, even Ayano didn't believe me and she hates Kazuhiko's guts. Wonder what would have happened if I told Akita, Hideyoshi, or Takayuki.

Now is not the time to think about that. Get off this train. I should go forward to see if I could access the control room somehow. Maybe there are others on here that could help me. You don't waste a setup like this for one person after all. Somebody had to pay good money to get a train like this, avoid the Committee, and then get it and possibly us, or just me, onto a piece of track nobody can easily find us. Only if I stayed with Satoshi in that bar and didn't run into whoever that girl was.

I notice there are windows and try to examine my surroundings. What surprises me is that there is heavy snowfall obscuring the view. It was ridiculously warm in Japan, so this has to be somewhere else or I have been out much longer than I would like to admit. Perhaps it is Towa City because it has been abandoned? No, they would have found us, I heard rumors that people are trying to rebuild there. Rumors about Makoto being there have also surfaced. Atsuto, please be careful wherever you are.

There are a lot of people that should be careful. Like the members of Sakura Circus. Mostly Akita and Hideyoshi, but I have grown a liking to Yuu and Yuki. There is a newer member that that only does it for fun or something. I don't know, I didn't get a good read on her. Her name is Hotaru Amemori. Akita likes giving kids like them a place to belong away from the Committee. They would have just been trafficked or worse otherwise. As one of Kotori's 'bitches', I would know.

My fingers place themselves on top of my face mask. Good, it is still there. Others would think I'm a freak without it like Kotori likes to tell me. Since I am her main bitch. Her main bitch that she can do anything to and nobody will blink an eye since I have no fucking rights. Saviors of Humanity my ass, if they were what they thought they were, they would have saved us by now-

"Hello?" somebody asks, breaking me out of my destructive thoughts. She is a girl who looks to only be slightly older than me. I would say she is pretty, having a sort of quaint look about her. Very much a girl next door. Not exactly my type...I have been around Satoshi too long.

Her hair is about average length, blonde with darker roots, and wavy. She has green eyes that look to be half-closed surrounded by a lot of freckles. Everything about her screams girly, or Kindra's definition of it, as she has makeup consisting of pink lip gloss, black winged eyeliner, and magenta nail polish. If I have to guess anything about her hobbies or work, I would say it is music related due to her outfit...

The girl has on a black halter top that highlights her average-sized breasts quite nicely. Damn, Satoshi is making me a pervert. Along with that, she has on a crème colored vest. There is a necklace around her neck that catches my eye, with it being an in a shape of a tear and colored yellow. She has on dark blue skinny jeans that do nothing to hide away her curvy figure. Black wedge heels make her taller than she actually is, to the point we seem to be at the same height. On her left wrist, there is a diamond-studded bracelet. And, the thing that tipped me off to her possible occupation, a white hairband with a double black music note on the left side of her head. Shiro would like that. There is also a guitar that she is carrying around.

"Hello?"

"Are you feeling okay?" she questions me. I stare at her, not knowing what to say.

"Yes," I answer as I nod her head. Something about her expression tells me that she did not buy into it but does not want to push.

"...Alright then. Perhaps we should introduce ourselves?" She then smiles at me when she reaches out her hand to me. I take it and we have a handshake. "I'm Hanami Fukushima, Honorary Ultimate Singer. Pleased to meet you."

* * *

 **Hanami Fukushima**

 **Honorary Ultimate Singer**

* * *

"Another Honorary Ultimate?" Please do not tell me this is what I think it is. Kotori said something about thousands of these games taking place almost every day in other parts of the world, but I do not want to be a part of this! A Killing Game!

"Is something on your mind?"

"Nothing...let's see if there are others on this train." Even though she seems nice, I have learned from personal experience that appearances are deceiving. Her constant smile is heartwarming yet I do not know about her. We have literally just met, I am not going to spill out all of my personal secrets to a stranger. This might be a Killing Game and that level of trust will get you killed.

"Can I at least have your name first? I don't want to keep calling you person." Hanami does have a point. From what I have gathered from her, she has a level head on her shoulders. Somebody that can be trusted enough not to make stupid, rash decisions. She is taking this in stride, but it would not surprise me if she is freaking out inside. Or perhaps needs somebody to explain to her the full gravity of this situation. There is no evidence yet to say how she got her, so it is possible that Hanami was escorted here way nicer than me.

"Kazuma Kaneshiro, Honorary Ultimate Hypnotist."

"Kaneshiro Kazuma, Ultimate Brainwasher?" H-how? Brainwasher? Why would I ever brainwash people? Or have my last name go first? That is as stupid as thinking I would change Makoto's name somehow.

"No, Kazuma Kaneshiro, Honorary Ultimate _Hypnotist_."

"Sorry! I usually get what others were saying, but it is hard to feel the ground in this train." Even while apologizing, Hanami has a smile on her face. Wonder if that will stay if this is what I think it is, or when she is eventually exposed to the true side of the Committee. She did accept the title of Honorary Ultimate, most likely from Ayano Kirigiri since she is so open about it. Or perhaps she just doesn't like telling lies.

"We should go to the front of this train and figure out what is happening," I say to her. Taking a few seconds to process what I say, she nods her head.

And, just like that, Hanami and I go on our journey to find the exit for this place.

* * *

 **Only one introduction this time. Mostly this was getting to know Kazuma more, with Hanami being awesome. I love Hanami. I will do horrible, horrible things to these characters. And this is gonna be a long ass author's note.**

 **First off, an update on this story. This story will officially begin updating regularly in December. Because timing. It will have updates before that time, but they will be not regular. Yes, this SYOC is still open. And, no, it will not be open till December. This ain't Killing Game's Serenade. I will officially close the SYOC on September, 20th. It will probably close before then, but that is the absolutely last date. Note that the next chapters will be more like FoD than DiOS.**

 **The official cast list will be updated on the first chapter of this story. Don't worry if your OC isn't there. There's still time to make others, and I might accept OCs that aren't in right now if I find a good place for them in the story. Just know that I love all of your OCs and love how much love goes into the Committee Saga.**

 **But, seriously though, you might want to read some of the other stories because I ain't explaining Personality Experiment #045 again. And many other things since, yeah, they have already been explained and I'm lazy. XD**

 **Without further to do, reviews~**

 **mayurie-Totally not the future mastermind, noooooooooo. Everybody is not suspicious at all. Thanks for the cookies. I will have fun with all the old men I am getting. A lot of grandpas.**

 **PainX65-Yes, its a reference because I have already revealed my love of Agatha Christie before. Shinichi was the victim of that, now these characters are the victim of this. Thanks. I love gramps. Gramp gramps.**

 **Scissor-Snipper-Hahahaha, its because I'm insane. Why edit your story when you can create another one (kill me, I still have to edit FoD which is now almost 300,000 words long)? Yes, fun age range~ And here's even more theory material!**

 **ShadedLyht-Yep, Kaneshiro origin story~ Well, I got two gramps in the official cast right now. XD Even as shit as the Committee is, the world is still, you know, a world that can support these talents. Just, you know, it's still shit. Thanks so much. :D**

 **Lupus Overkill-Yes, feed me with your reviews~ Kazuma is here to stay considering he's still alive in FoD and DiOS. Satoshi is here for ALL THE SPOILERS! Here are some more callbacks, and, yes, that's the original Akita Yamazaki. Nameless Sae Emiya, stay away! Yeah, Kazuma doesn't have the highest opinion of the police (somebody send somebody related to the police, I would love you forever). Thanks, Lupus. :D**

 **tobi-is-an-artist-too- _I AM A NINJA!_ Well, here it is and here you are! Kazuma is not gonna have fun in this story. Kaneshiro will. HAHAHAHAHA! Thanks so much, Tobi!**

 **even-more-tobi-as-a-guest-YEAH, PEEPS GETTING THE REFERENCE! Dun dun dun.**

 **ThePlothand-It is okay to reuse your OC if the story has been cancelled or they were declined, ask the original creator if it is okay if the original story has been completed. And, yes, you can use characters not from SYOC stories as long as it is not currently running.**


	3. Prelude 0-2

**Prelude 0-2: The Calm Before The Storm**

* * *

I always feel like something is going to go wrong, no matter what happens. It may be the best day I have ever experience yet there is a nagging fear that never goes away. Haunting me everywhere, even in my sleep. And now that little voice in my head increases. Anybody can tell you that this situation is not right and certainly unusual but I am convinced that it will lead to something more.

It is good to stay calm in a situation like this. Jumping to conclusions about this being a Killing Game is absurd. Kotori would never allow such a thing to happen to me...except when she is directly involved. Shit.

Is it how they get rid of whoever they deem to not be worthy? Or people that are getting in the way of their plans? Throw them in a game and then blame it on the whatever remains of the despairs. There have been a couple of cults dedicated to Junko Enoshima yet none of them pose any sort of real threat to the Committee.

"Kazuma?"

There is a chance that Kotori found somebody else and wants to tie up loose ends. Too much of us maybe? Kotori could be lashing out for the times that I have been late. She might have found out about me spending my free time with Satoshi and wants to teach me a lesson about defying her.

"K-Kazuma? Are you alright?"

"Just fine," I respond. Hanami raises her eyebrow but does not push into the matter any further. She instead opens the door leading to the other cabin in front of us carefully. Once she realizes that the train is not currently moving, Hanami goes to the next car and keeps the door open for me.

Going into the next car, I realize that it is a long hallway with about four rooms. The wallpaper and floor are the same dull colors of the car before. This one, however, does not have the view.

Opening one of the doors, I see that there are two bunk beds in the room with both of them having two mattresses. Every bed is colored the same way, with the walls and floors having the same brownish color to them. There is a window in the room that shows us the same view as before. It is remarkable how little personality is put into every single one of these rooms.

"Are we supposed to sleep here?" I ask Hanami. Pressing my fingers on one of the mattresses, I note that they are firm. Although I do not mind the feeling, I know of many people who do not feel the same way. Kotori often complains about her own bed to the heads of the Committee. Do not know if that is because it is how she actually feels, or Kotori just wants a free bed.

"I don't know," Hanami admits. Although I do not know whether or not to trust Hanami yet, I get the feeling that she is telling the truth. She does not know about the events that have transpired. That means she most likely has no relationship with that weird girl. It feels like I should know who she is but, for some reason, cannot find it out.

Hanami and I look everywhere we could in the room yet there is nothing inside. There does not even seem to be any dust or anything hinting at any past use. It is like whoever bought us here prepared the train just for us. That must mean this is premeditated and definitely not a random vacation. Vacation is something that never happens if somebody is dumb enough to get themselves involved with the Committee. Those who go on them are corrupt higher-ups, and I bet my life savings that it is to do something for the Committee and not lay down and relax.

Catching both of us off guard, we hear somebody moving the door behind us. The two of us look behind and notice that its a girl that is around my age. She is quite attractive if I say so myself...With all these thoughts, I really should be hanging with Atsuto more than Satoshi. Kotori is also to blame, lord knows that lady has way too many unhealthy fetishes to count. Part of the reason she does all those experiments is some sort of sick kick. There's all this bullshit of it to help further science but nobody believes it. The only reason the Committee keeps her around even though they are pretty sure she is in despair is that she somehow gets results from all this torture. And results are the only thing that matter in this fucked up world.

The girl herself is tan and rather muscular, with brown eyes and short, black hair that only reaches to her shoulders. Her hair is also wavy with blue highlights. Pins shaped as blue flowers pull the fringe in her hair back. She has a black tank top with navy blue flowers accompanied by a black neck scarf. Black shorts come next, with nothing hiding most of the rest of her leg due to her barely noticeable ankle socks. However, what strikes me as off is the clear scar on her leg. That means whoever this is does not get bothered by others knowing about it, or just accidentally wore something that shows it. No evidence can be gathered as of now. After all, I don't even know the stranger's name.

"What's your name?" Hanami asks. She is warm and open, reminding me much of a mother I never had. "I'm Hanami Fukushima."

"Um, well, my name is Beni Nashio," she introduces herself while playing with her fingers and looking down on the floor. With her blue training shoes, Beni starts to move her feet around in circles, as if stretching them out.

"Are you another Honorary Ultimate? I'm the Honorary Ultimate Hypnotist while Hanami is a singer." If there are three of us on here, then it proves that we are being targeted. Being involved in the Committee only brings pain and suffering. I wonder if anybody else here knows that, or if they are just blind to the injustices of the world. Three of us also means that there are more likely more since whoever put us here would not go through all the effort just to have the three of us kill each other. That would be no fun for the despairs.

"Oh, um, I'm the Honorary Ultimate Narrator. It's not much but its what I'm good at."

* * *

 **Beni Nashio**

 **Honorary Ultimate Narrator**

* * *

I would not have guessed that talent for her but appearances can be deceiving. I know that fact a little too well. The world is cruel and does not care about you. Life and death don't discriminate, only living beings do. There are many theories on why that is, ranging from survival instinct to those living are just jerks, but none of those seem to fit. None of the theories of life seem to fit. After all, everything is just a theory. For all I know, everything can be my imagination and nothing truly exists. That is why everything is like a doll and doing stupid little things causes people to bend to my whims, much like the Committee-

"Stuck in thought again, Kazuma?" Hanami tilts her head. That girl is dangerously perceptive, or maybe it is just obvious when I don't answer a question.

"Maybe...is that a chicken?" Beni and Hanami then notice the chicken as well. I have only seen them in picture books, and seeing one in real life is surreal. It stares at us, and then it runs away. All of us stare at each other, not knowing what to make of this.

"That's...a chicken..." Hanami cannot believe her eyes either. Beni's mouth is left open. Of all things, I never expected a chicken. A dog, cat, or maybe even a rabbit, but a chicken? The chicken then runs into the run once again with it...trying to hide on one of the beds? That bird is really stupid. Wonder how it managed to survive this long. All chickens nowadays stay in factories or small overpopulated farms.

"There you are, Sasha the Second. Did you find anything?" All the sudden, another guy bursts into the room. He sits on the same bed as the chicken, who I will assume is Sasha the Second, and takes a deep breath.

The boy himself is small, with everybody else in the room towering over him. Seems like his body is built for speed and agility more than anything else. Only reason I can tell he is adult is how mature his face is. Curly black hair reaches his shoulders. With his eyes being a sharp blue, they stand out and are quite stunning. He has hazelnut skin that is mostly covered by all of his clothing. He wears a simple outfit, a black turtleneck with dark blue jeans. On his feet are worn brown leather boots. Whoever this is also is wearing a backpack that matches strangely well with the boots. What stands out the most, however, is the blue bandana around his neck. It is covered in white stars. To be honest, it is rather childish but charming in its own sort of way.

"Why are there so many people here?" Beni starts trying to hide her face in her scarf.

"Excuse me, mister, but would you mind telling us your name?" Hanami asks politely. "You can leave if you like Beni. We get that it can be stressful for people to be in this situation." Nodding her head, Beni leaves the room. The new boy still has not spoken a word to us. He seems to be more focused on his chicken. Sasha the Second climbs on top of him and is now perching on his head.

"Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. Ivan Pavlov." After that, he just looks up at his chicken. This guy really needs better social skills. Not having them perfected could mean certain doom if you want to do anything in this world. The Committee has made it so. Many brilliant people get left behind just for the simple fact that they are not as good with speeches as their inferior counterparts.

"Do you have a talent as well? Somebody could be targeting Honorary Ultimates and putting them here," I respond. Ivan does not seem too bothered with my theory, however.

"If you want to know, then I'm the Ultimate Tracker. Sasha helps me find everything I need."

* * *

 **Ivan Pavlov**

 **Honorary Ultimate Tracker**

* * *

Although I've no experience with chickens, I know that they are not supposed to be good trackers. So maybe Ivan somehow trained Sasha the Second to be that way? Dogs are better but the Committee makes it so that getting them without having special favor with the Committee or in special need is overly difficult. Most people prefer to get cats instead since they are all over the streets. Before the Tragedy, dogs used to be more common yet one of the biggest events of the Tragedy was when Despairs kidnapped as many dogs as they could and forced all of them to fight to the death. Only one was the champion yet he died right afterward due to his wounds not being treated. Over a million dogs perished in that one event alone.

"That's worrying," Hanami comments. With us being proven without a doubt that we are being targeted, I wonder how the person or people involved were able to abduct us. There was that one bitch in the bar but she did not seem like the type of person that would be able to set up something like this. Even if there is one mastermind, they most likely have people working underneath them. I would do that if I were in their shoes. Have at least one mole inside with you while having many others on standby to make sure everything goes smoothly.

"Well, we're screwed." I sigh. Just great. I'm going to be murdered even before I turn twenty. So close but so far. Kotori would definitely get a kick out of it. And then everybody would have to deal with her all by themselves. I'm not going to allow that to happen. Or I will because fate is literally out of my hands. That sucks.

"Don't say that Kazuma, I'm pretty sure we can all make it out of here. We just need to work together!" Hanami exclaims. Well, reality is gonna hit her with this train. Literally. Just waiting for the moment that she becomes broken by everything. Or maybe she dies first and gets spared from all of this pain.

"Whatever." Instead of doing anything else, Ivan lays on one of the beds. Sasha still somehow remains on top of his head. I am about to ask him something until I hear him snoring loudly.

"Do you want to help us, Ivan?" Hanami questions him. She gets no response.

"He's asleep, Hanami," I tell her.

"Oh! Sorry about that, Ivan." She bows down. So far the only one I know that much about is Hanami. Maybe we could find Beni again. Beni seems at least somewhat interesting. Though a part of me still wants to know more about chickens.

"We should probably go somewhere else." It's awkward talking in a room with somebody sleeping. Still dreading the possibility of all of us being forced to sleep together. There is way too little privacy. Way too much of a chance of somebody waiting until everybody else is asleep to murder you. Chances are, not a lot of people are going to be sleeping tonight.

"That's a good idea." With that, Hanami and I go to the next room which looks exactly identical to the one before. This time, however, Beni is on one of the bed just sitting. She is staring off into space.

"Hey, Beni, do you want to come with us? We are going to investigate the rest of the train." Hanami smiles. Beni only just realizes we are in the room and yelps. I try to take a step towards her but she only moves further away on the bed. "Oh, sorry for scaring you."

"Don't worry, it's alright. I'll just stay here." Beni kicks off her shoes. After that, she goes into one of the corners of the bed and hugs herself like a little child.

"Are you sure? Do you need anything?" Hanami's voice is soft and caring. However, Beni shakes her head and buries herself even more. "Alright, we'll leave you alone, got it? But know that we're here if you ever need anything."

With that, we exit the room. There might not be a lot of space for us to sleep on this train yet it's liveable. Much rather this than be put in prison. The Committee makes sure to have their message of them not wanting you to break their laws clear, although laws still get broken way more than they should be based on their statistics. So they make it so that the prison is as painful as possible, with former prisoners that had not lost their minds describing it as a torture cell.

"We should go through that door next," I suggest to Hanami. She nods her head. It's the door that leads to the next car.

* * *

Making our way through the door, the next thing we see is a car filled with only seats. The seats themselves are in good quality. They are made out of brown leather. Pressing my hand against one of them, I find that they are surprisingly soft. There are about six groups of them. For each group, there are four seats, with two facing us and two the other direction. On the wall, there is a small window. I see that it is still snowing outside. Why would the mastermind not block all the possible exits? Something else must be blocking our escape. No way somebody took in all the effort of abducting us to just allow us to easily escape.

"Whoo!" Suddenly, I feel something on top of me. Whatever it is knocks me hard onto the ground. "Other people! Looks like moi isn't the only person stuck here."

"Are you alright, Kazuma?" Hanami helps me get up when the person gets off of me. When up, I see that the person is rather androgynous. They have a massive smirk on their face. I already want to punch them in the face but that's not what a gentleman does.

"Yeah. Hey, person, what was that for?" They whistle as they come closer to us. The person comes right to my face. Personal space is not a thing anymore apparently.

Whoever this person is, they have long white hair that is slightly on the messy side. They have dark blue eyes that almost could be mistaken as black. Their shirt is a black tank top with the number 01 depicted on the front in red. Above the numbers is a red x. For their pants, they wear sweats that are baggy and grey. To complete the look, this new stranger his white sneakers. Hope they don't step in anything because those type of shoes gets ruined all too easily.

"For fun, silly! It would be easy copying a stick in the mud like you," they grin. "Well, I don't have my other tools with me so it's not the best but whatever. You gotta deal with the cards you get! Or something, Jin can tell me all that kind of stuff."

"Who are you?" Hanami takes the words right out of my mouth.

"Yugi Bessho. And, before you drag this out any more than it has to be, I'm the Honorary Ultimate Copycat."

* * *

 **Yugi Bessho**

 **Honorary Ultimate Copycat**

* * *

"So you're just an imposter then?" I interrogate them.

"I'm not an imposter! Copycat! Get it memorized." Yugi then changes their stance to fit mine. It's almost scary how perfect they are at doing that. If Yugi had my clothes, people would not be able to tell us apart. Well, that's creepy. Great way to remind me of how I don't matter in the grand scheme of the universe. "I'm Kaneshiro Kazuma, Ultimate Brainwasher, and I don't have a stick up my ass. It's good being friends with all of you!"

"Why is everybody going on about that?" I could feel some sweat coming down my forehead. For the last time, hypnosis is not brainwashing. People cannot perform actions under hypnosis that they won't do outside of it.

"Calm down." Hanami tried to gets in the middle of us but neither of us is paying attention. She tries to yell out something I cannot exactly hear.

"For this trick, I'll make everybody think that they're chickens! Come on and act like Sasha."

"How come you know these people when you clearly haven't met them?"

"Because I did some actual research before I was given my title duh. Or maybe something else." Yugi sticks out their tongue. If this is truly a Killing Game, I wish they die first.

"We should probably go somewhere else, Kazuma, or you will start fighting again."

"Or you will start fighting again." Yugi finishes Hanami's sentence the very moment she does so. They then copy Hanami exactly. "Now I will sing a song of my own creation about yet another one of my boyfriend's dumping me because I'm totally not discount deaf Taylor Swift."

"Enough with this, we should play nice. It can hurt somebody's feeling to have you do this, Yugi." Hanami stands her ground.

"Nobody's stopping you. There's nothing interesting in here anyway. It's just a bunch of boring chairs. Bye~" Yugi heads off in the direction of the bedrooms. I would rather have Beni or Ivan deal with them than myself. But one thing they say is right, nothing is in here. Highly doubt any room is without its purpose, however. Whoever put us in here must be planning something in this car. But what? I don't know, it's not like I'm Sherlock Holmes or anything.

* * *

We decide to go into the next car. However, it looks like something that should not belong here. Really this should be a place with at least lockable doors. This cannot be a train built for traditional use since I highly doubt they would dedicate a whole car to just showers.

This car is covered with white tiles. There are five showers on each side, with each of them having a curtain that has a picture of Monokuma. What strikes me as odd, however, is that there is somehow a hot tub in the middle of the room. I'm just not going to question that. Inbetween the shadows are toliets.

However, we also see another person. I hope he is not as crazy as Yugi. This man seems to be checking out one of the showers with a devious smile on his face. Well, that's not a good sign. I cannot believe I'm hoping he's just a pervert like Satoshi. Many unique kinds of people come to his bar and it takes everything in me to not punch them. Sometimes I'm reminded how sick and depraved humanity can truly be.

The man himself has dark purple hair styled into a fohawk and slightly spiked in the front. On his face, there is a light five o'clock shadow. His eyes are a bright gold that compliments his pale skin. He wears a royal purple button up shirt with several buttons undone showing off his chest. Now I'm already scared. There is a suit jacket over the shirt that is left open and colored white. For his pants, he wears a pair of black jeans with a silver chain on the right side. On his feet is another pair of white sneakers. People should realize how annoying it is to keep those clean. This man wears a thick platinum chain necklace and I notice that there are two platinum rings on each index finger. A diamond stud earring in also in his left ear. Then, on top of his head, the stranger wears a pair of platinum designer shield sunglasses.

This man is bad news. Perhaps it's not too late to go back.

"Hello there~" The man rushes to Hanami's side. "Beautiful~ my name is Asahi Ito. And you must be the girl of my dreams."

"Um...uh...I am not interested-"

"You won't say that when I show you how much of a good time I can give you." Asahi's eyes sparkle and I take back about what I said about Yugi. Can Asahi die first instead? I'll do it myself if I have to. There is nothing the world loses by my absence. In fact, I think things would actually get better. Kotori won't allow me to die, even out here she will somehow assert her influence.

"Listen, buddy, back off-"

"The two men back there were Honorary Ultimates. I guess you two are as well. That only makes this diamond shine brighter." Asahi tries to take Hanami's hand yet she pulls it away. He has to take a deep breath.

"Kazuma Kaneshiro, Ultimate Hypnotist. Hanami Fukushima, Ultimate Singer. Now back off." I take a hold of Hanami's hand and try to go the other way. Maybe the two other men that he spoke of also hate his guts. Or maybe literally everybody else on here is insane. However, Asahi grabs on Hanami's other hand. I let go and Hanami shakes him off herself.

"Don't worry, beautiful, I'll show you my charm one of these days. For I'm the Honorary Ultimate Theatre Actor. The world is my stage."

* * *

 **Asahi Ito**

 **Honorary Ultimate Theatre Actor**

* * *

"Trust me-"

" ** _OBJECTION_**! That is conjecture!" Out of nowhere, a woman kicks Asahi in the face. She is wearing a judge outfit so I think it's safe to assume she is one. Although she looks to be even younger than me.

"Aren't lawyers supposed to be the ones who do that?"

"That's off-topic to the pursuit of JUSTICE!" The girl holds Asahi down onto the floor. However, Asahi does not seem to mind.

The girl herself has medium-length dark blue, straight hair. She has golden eyes as well, but hers are a lot duller than Asahi's. Her skin is pale and well taken care of with no pimples or blemishes to speak of, the only thing that stands out is a mole on the bottom left side of her mouth. Pierced into her ears, there are golden loop earrings. Nothing else could really be seen thanks to her oversized judge uniform. This person being the supposedly best judge the Committee can find makes me scared. Especially because she seems to be...eccentric.

"Welcome to the court of Norika Kihara. Honorary Ultimate Judge. Now stay out of trouble of the law, or I will find you in my courtroom and you will not like it."

* * *

 **Norika Kihara**

 **Honorary Ultimate Judge**

* * *

"Oh, we could have fun together-"

"Excuse me, but I'm pretty sure I'm old enough to be your mother." Guess Norika looks really young for her age. Imagining actual children being forced into a situation like this is disturbing. Also, there is the problem of the Committee engaging in child labor. There used to be a time where child labor was frowned upon but nowadays its seen as normal to see children working on construction fields.

"I can be into that-"

"There is no way I will agree to such a thing! I judge your actions as one of a filthy pervert. Possible crimes being sexual harassment-"

"You can push into me harder-"

"For the will of the people, I will not do what you say! Justice will always win!" Norika lifts him up and drags him back to the room we were in before.

That was a thing that happened. Now to forget that ever happened. Hanami and I decide in silence to continue onward. I can tell both of us hope that there is at least one other sane person stuck on here. Or maybe we can find the asshole who did this to us.

* * *

Next room is another weird room. For its what I can only describe as a club. There is even a dance floor. The most prominent feature is the bar that is bigger than any I have personally seen with a large assortment of different kinds of alcohol, including ones humans shouldn't be allowed to drink. Satoshi would be jealous. Atsuto would want to die more than he already does. Other than that, there are a couple of red love seats. The lighting is dark so its hard to see anything. There's what seems to be a disco ball on the ceiling as well. From what I can tell, the floor is brown and the walls black. Like the showers, this room has no windows.

Two older men are talking at the bar. One looks old enough to be a grandfather. Only one of them has alcohol.

"Excuse me, sirs, can I be part of your conversation? My name is Hanami Fukushima, Honorary Ultimate Singer, and this is Kazuma Kaneshiro, Honorary Ultimate Hypnotist."

"Such a nice girl. Nice to meet you Hanami, Kazuma, my name is Gennai Doromizu. I have been given the title of Honorary Ultimate Train Conductor. Some people like calling me Gramps for short."

* * *

 **Gennai Doromizu**

 **Honorary Ultimate Train Conductor**

* * *

Gennai is the elderly man out of the duo. His hair is hidden underneath his conductor hat, with only a small bit being able to be seen and it's silver. Somewhat spiky as well but nothing can be said for certain. The man has bright blue eyes that are absolutely piercing. There is a thick white mustache that covers most of his mouth. He wears a white shirt underneath a blue suit jacket that matches his pants. Black dress shoes cover his feet. Overall, Gennai is quite simple but formal as well.

"Good thing we got sane kiddos that time!" the other man exclaims as he takes another sip of his drink. From using all the info I've learned, that has to be some kind of whiskey. And he's drowning it like its nothing. Though he's still very clearly drunk. His arms swing around all over the place in a poor excuse of body language. "Well, I'm Musubino. Musubino Heiwai. Ultimate Combat Medic. I'll heal you no matter what got it? Its good to gets your vaccines. If you talk about that anti-vax bullshit, you're worse than the Asahi asshole."

* * *

 **Heiwai Musubino**

 **Honorary Ultimate Combat Medic**

* * *

Heiwai has wavy dark blue hair styled in a crew cut that could be easily mistaken as black. His eyes are green and upturned with black circles underneath them. This man has a mustache as well but it is skinnier than Gennai's. The man has a tall, toned body with sun-kissed skin. There are some scares I can see underneath his clothes. He wears a navy green leather jacket with a pair of brown cargo pants with pockets that seemed like they were filled with the brim with supplies, probably of the medical kind. Black combat boots are on his feet. Around his neck, there is a necklace that has a silver ring on it. A flask is hanging from his hips.

"That asshole is going to be the end of us all!" Heiwai yells. He might be drunk but I agree with him.

"He might have his personality flaws but a youngling like him can still grow. Asahi just has to grow as a person," Gennai responds. Hanami sits down next to Gennai but I decide I should continue to stand. There is so much of the train that is left to explore.

"What do you think of this situation?" Hanami fits right into the conversation even with how much longer she is.

"It's crap!"

"Musubino-san needs to realize that he should not bury his sorrows with alcohol. I should have stopped him." The three of them start speaking to each other and I feel like a fourth wheel. Perhaps it would be better if I leave. So that's what I decide to do. Time to figure out what the next room holds.

* * *

Going to the next car, I see the car is covered in pure darkness. I look for a light switch but then a spotlight is turned on and pointed to the middle of the car. There is nothing currently there. I turn to go back but then I hear footsteps. God, I'm such a dumbass. Being alone in this situation is literally how every dumb person ever dies.

"Kazuma Kaneshiro, Honorary Ultimate Hypnotist, welcome to the Killing Game!" The voice belongs to who I assume is a girl. Then she walks into a spotlight. I cannot believe the bullshit that I'm seeing.

"You got to be kidding me."

The girl is covered in paint, with half of her body being white and the other black. One of her eyes is black while the other red. Around her red-eye, there is red makeup shaped like a lightning bolt. Her lips are covered in deep red lipstick. She has long black, straight hair that goes to her knees. For her outfit, she wears an exact replica to Junko Enoshima's except for the lack of hair clips and her hair is down.

"Puhuhuhu! I'm Monokuma! For this game, I'm your teacher and look after you all. Don't disappoint me, okay?"

* * *

 **People are like...OH MY GOD! REQ IS UPDATING MODE! It's still on hiatus until FoD is done but I've gone way too long without a chapter. And I hate intros. I fucking hate intros. I don't even know if this chapter is good or not, I'm just glad that this chapter is finally finished.**

 **I'm still getting used to these characters so if I portray your characters wrong, just tell me and I'll change it.**

 **QOTC: Why do you think Kazuma will turn into Kaneshiro based on the very limited information you currently have?**

 **Req's Rec: Danganronpa: Final Flight by Shirasaur**

 **Reviews~ (there's so many reviews XD) (thank you so much everybody for the continuing support)**

 **AnonChan1-Well, this whole story revolves around Kazuma's fall into darkness. Yeah, he's saying the Committee is like Nazis. With the new info, I think more people agree with this statement. That's part of the fun of this story. Heiwai is on it. They're not moving. You get to learn backstory without it being screwed over by the Flashback Lights.**

 **PrincePokePersona-No problem, I'm gonna have a lot of fun torturing her. ^_^ Welcome to the pain train, we got cinnamon rolls. Hanami's arc is gonna be so fun to write~ No problem, I'll for sure make her suffer. ;) Thanks so much. Have a nice day as well.**

 **PainX65-I love him. He's precious. Now for everybody else to love him too. Thanks so much, hopefully this chapter is good.**

 **tobi-is-an-artist-too-Plot twist, I'm actually the Ultimate Ninja. :3 Haha, nope, you know what truly happens in FoD now. I exist to hurt your soul. Oh dear lord, I'm gonna make you cry so much with this game then. Yes, knowing FoD, you guys know that things are only gonna end badly.**

 **ThePLOThand-Here's Yugi! Hopefully, I wrote them well! :D Choo choo, Gramps is here to teach us all about trains. Plot twist, Beni is a girl. As a shipper, I'm glad~ Nope, this is the real one. Let's see how right or wrong you are. Trains.**

 **TheRoseShadow21-I'll not protect her. She might be confirmed to survive but that means nothing with me around. ;) Thanks so much, here it finally is.**

 **ShadedLyht-He's still the same character, just before his fall into darkness. His names were switched because of Personality Experiments. Well, Hotaru is still alive somehow. That was more of me going wink wink nudge nudge than anything. We have a lot of diversity with this cast. Thanks so much. :D**

 **RioA-Oh yes, intros. My worse enemy. There's neverending suffering here. Thanks so much, we just have to wait and see. There's something off with everybody. All the references! Remember, read the other stories folks. I ain't explaining the shit I already did so there because I'm lazy. Thanks so much~**

 **Lupus Overkill-Thanks for the review, I love them all no matter how short. Yeah, that's Kazuma. Everybody and their grandmothers know each other. FoD reveals there's nothing underneath there...currently. They do know each other~ Thanks so much, hopefully, I know these characters a lot. Thanks so much. :)**

 **ZiggyMia123-Now you do so now you can suffer with all of us and scream. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Welcome to the chaos, we have cinnamon rolls for you too. Thanks so much, these stories are so long. XD I like Kazuma too so I'm ready to make people suffer from his fall of darkness. Thanks, Sona makes really good designs for his characters. You've now entered true Hell.**


	4. Prelude 0-3

**Prelude 0-3: Plans Set In Motion**

 **Beta Read By: Allen Ux Ultor and ZiggyMia123**

* * *

"This is going to be real simple, Kazuma. You just got to listen to what I say, alright? Well, I already know you can since you're one of Kotori's bitches." The crazy lady pulls out a fancy-looking red and gold seat from the darkness. It's never a good idea to follow the person wielding the gun yet you should always listen and obey.

"What do you want...Monokuma?" This only proves my previous theory that this is a Killing Game. Only a dumbass would not notice its ties to Kotori Hiraoka. I'm pretty sure, however, that she would brag about it if one of her experiments dressed up as Monokuma and start shewing despair bullshit like herself. God, why is everybody so obsessed with hope and despair? People do realize that normal everyday people don't give a shit about that, right?

"So straight to the point. I like that in a man. Junko just rambles on and on about crazy shit. But enough of that..." Without a warning, this messed up woman grabs onto my chin and yanks me closer to her. Just do not piss off the obviously insane person. "You're going to tell me about the apartment, okay~? Oh wait, none of you know about that. Has that really happened? Or you really here? Or is it me who's part of your kinky imagination, roughing you up without anybody being able to save your sorry ass?"

Do not respond. They want a reaction. Leaving your face blank will make them leave you alone. Everybody smart knows that. It's a simple fact of life. Follow the people in charge, or be one of the outspoken few that only exist to get killed and made an example out of. Being a goddamn martyr will only destroy the world in the end. Makoto Naegi may still be alive yet he suffers day to day with his so-called heroism.

"Get on with it already."

"So impatient! But fine." Monokuma lets go of me after placing a strangely soft kiss on my nose. She goes back into the darkness. I turn to go but then I feel something hit me. Looking back, I see that I was lucky enough to be hit my the hilt of a knife and not the blade. Just two seconds into the Killing Game and I could've been dead. I should put my guard up more often. But nobody is stupid enough to try anything yet. No motives have even been announced. What kind of braindead idiot will attempt to kill with nothing but 'freedom' to gain?

"Going on and on about stupid meaningless shit in your brain. The only thing that matters is the Master, got it? She's going to be the change the world needs. All of you just need to die first." Monokuma picks a random candle on the ground and goes to light it up. The rest of the light from the room suddenly disappears. Step, step, the fire comes closer.

"I don't see how this helps me learn anything." The clearly insane woman sighs at my reply.

"If you think like this, nothing will be accomplished. God, you've got such a stick stuck up your perfect ass-"

"I do not think-"

"Anyway, none of that matters. You're going to pay very close attention to me. Out of all of these bastards, you're the only one with a sense of logic and cowardice." With a snap of her fingers, there's no more light in the room. What sucks the most is that I cannot deny these words. The only way people can survive the world I'm stuck in is becoming a coward. Heroes only get themselves killed. Why do people care so much about their morals that they will throw away literally everything for them? Maybe I'm a true bastard for thinking I would throw everything away for one more second alive. But most everybody with common sense would, they just do not realize and live in absolute denial about the truth of humanity.

"I see I got your full attention, Kazuma. What a relief. Kids these days get distracted way too easily." I dare not comment on how she looks way younger than me and everybody I met on this damn train. "You see, I know that me just hanging around here in the shadows would be hard. Somebody is bound to notice. Especially with you know who being unable to stop herself from sticking her nose everywhere." Once again, don't comment. I've no idea who she's talking about.

"What's the point you're getting to?"

"Monokuma isn't supposed to be a human and we kinda wasted our money on other Killing Games. We really need somebody to help manage our money better. But that's not the point! I can't let myself be known, you understand? And really, people would just kill me and get this game over with if they saw me walking around-"

"You're saying killing you is a way to stop this?" There's no light in here, even for this so-called Monokuma. This can work to my advantage. Kotori would be looking for me and find this place easily. If there's still a Killing Game going on, she would continue it just to see results. But, stopping this game before the rules have been put into effect could be the best way out. It would make Kotori both proud and angry. Maybe that wouldn't be the best result, but it is better than the chance of making it this far and dying for no reason.

Feel for anything. There would be no actual weapons. The best course of action, a piece of broken wood or one of the candles. Too bad I've no idea what this place is or what's inside. But, somehow, my luck helps me in my life and I got a candle. It's surprisingly heavy. Good, it can actually be used as a weapon.

"Killing, in general, is how you can escape. You should already know how the Killing Games work. The beauty is how simple yet complex it is. So simple of a task, but the complexities of your morality make it harder than it has to be. There's no need for overly complicated traps. Just catch somebody by themself and go stab, stab, stab!" Monokuma giggles. "Oh, there are so many easy ways to actually win. But high schoolers aren't good with murder, so hopefully, adults are better. Like, hm, for example, making your murder look like an accident. Oops, the victim didn't wear her hair correctly and chop, chop, chop, her lack of safety gets her cut into shreds. Don't mind me evilly laughing in the corner with my hands stained with blood." I stop listening to her meaningless monologue halfway through. The only use it serves is as a way to find out where she is. Kotori would go into 'despair' rants all the time and, to be honest, they're quite annoying.

"You're awfully quiet..." That's the moment I take to try to strike at her. I feel something grab onto the handle and push me to the side. Dammit. "If you're trying to kill me, you've got to try harder than that. That was a clear test of character you dumbass. You can't be trusted but, oh well, we can't exactly just erase your memory. I'm going to have somebody special always keep an eye on you." More snaps of the fingers. One of the lights is now lit, with Monokuma and another person being bathed in its glow.

More on Monokuma herself, since during the time we were in the dark she somehow changed her outfit, she's short and childish. Her deep voice is the biggest clue that she's not in middle school. Her body still has the paint that must be extremely harmful to her skin. I never understood why people would do that to themselves. Her hair is still long and black, though now styled in pigtails that use red hairbands. Though the appearance itself is mostly the same with too-complex makeup, the outfit is vastly different. Instead of being yet another Junko clone, this Monokuma wears red overalls. Underneath the overalls, there is a black button-down shirt with white buttons. There's a red bowtie as well with a suspicious black stain. Her hands are completely covered this time through the use of black gloves. And her shoes are mismatched, with one being white and the other black.

The other person is a man around my height with pale skin. He has long hair split in the middle of pink and white placed in almost identical pigtails as Monokuma. Attached to the see-through hairbands, there are pink bunny ears. He has on a pink shirt with long sleeves that are way too big on him. For his skirt, the man wears a white short one with a deeper shade of pink plaid that matches his own bowtie. The shoes he has on are light pink high heels. They look kind of wonky with his white thigh highs. Hell, most people would think he is a girl, though I can somehow tell that's not the case. Though, something else is bothering me, for my mind is screaming that he looks familiar somehow. But I would remember somebody like this. Not everyday you see somebody dressed up as a rabbit history tries to forget ever existed.

"U-u-uh, hello? I'm K-"

"No, no, no. That won't do! No names, remember? Your name is Monomi and you're my precious sister-"

"But I'm a dude-"

"Do I look like I give a shit?" Monokuma then kicks Monomi down without any hesitation. She continues to kick him. It's pathetic seeing this, but it's not like I can do anything about it. "Play with me or I won't hesitate to use my wonderful blackmail. I can't really blackmail Kazuma though. He's fine with everything being out of the open. So I'm just going to do this the old fashion way and be like, I'm just going to torture you into insanity and then kill you if you dare do anything. I know everything about Kotori and the experiments so I know every way possible to make a person break. The human mind is so easy to destroy! Especially with all of these notes!" She brings out a stack of paper from seemingly nowhere. And then she throws them in the fire.

"Oh, that's a fire hazard!" Monomi objects. "You've to think about the others on here! You just can't kill them all yourself with your senseless actions! And so many have suffered for those notes-"

"Don't worry, there are backups saved on a computer if you care about that shit. And there's no way this thing will set on fire. I made sure everything was safe for a nice killing environment!"

"There's so such thing as a safe killing environment. You've to treat your students kindly, or else they won't be able to grow!" Monomi rebuts. He gets kicked by Monokuma once again. Guess he needs to finally learn how to keep his mouth shut. Not even your thoughts are safe in this world anymore.

"Of course there's a safe killing environment. Our original plan was just to yeet them in Antarctica but that wouldn't do. We kind of wasted all of our budget on this weird-ass train though." Monokuma shrugs. The two of them are entirely focused on each other. Another thing I learned with Kotori, how to be super silent. Kazuhiko was actually surprisingly helpful in that regard. Says it would come in handy if we ever rise against her, but he of all people should know that's useless to think about. But, anyway, tip-toeing, I make sure to be silent as possible as I begin to reach the door. This room must be soundproof in some way for nobody else to hear what's happening.

"Not so fast, sweetheart." Monokuma makes no sound when she catches up to me. Should have known it was useless. "I can't have you ruining the plot twist this early in the game. No, I want everybody to feel the despair of their good friend always lying to them! Oh, that would be simply wonderful!"

"How are you going to make sure he stays in line?" Monomi is silent as well. He looks over the shoulder of Monokuma, easily towering over her.

"You know how~" Monokuma pulls out a remote. Remotes are never good. Before I can even breath, she pushes down the singular red button on it. Not even any hesitation. Even Kotori takes a second to think through her actions.

Seconds later, there's a pain going through my system. Like it is being shocked, though my senses are too overwhelmed to figure out exactly what. Any normal man or woman would be downed by this torture. Good thing I've to deal with Kotori's bullshit.

Then it stops. The whole thing only wasted a couple of seconds, but I'm not a fool. I know it would do lasting damage to the others, especially those with weaker bodies. The Killing Game hasn't started yet which would mean that their deaths would mean nothing. More horrible things happening just to prove yet another point to me.

"You see, I had one of my helpers place chips into you after somebody fetched you all. Oh, what a wonderful girl, even though she's a massive drunk!" Monokuma begins to laugh just like that damn bear. Her every moment is like the teddy bear to the point that it is beyond disturbing. "Try to tell anybody about this and I'll make sure at least one person dies from this unspeakable torture!"

"I understand." No need to resist. Give them the power and control they so desperately crave. Give up your body and mind in a futile attempt to save your nonexistent soul.

"Good, now be a good boy and go with Monomi. Make sure to treat my sister like shit-"

"I'm a dude-"

"And make sure you don't die too early! Then the plot twist would mean nothing." Monokuma then disappears into the shadows. She must be watching our every move so there are hidden cameras all over the place. Nothing private should be shared on this train ever, got it.

Then something pushes Monomi and me out of the door. I can already feel the confusion the others are going to feel. They probably understand this situation better than I do.

* * *

The moment Heiwai sees us, he splits out all of his alcohol. "Holy shit, I need to stop drinking-"

"What you say, old man?" There are only three people in the bar. Hanami must have left for some reason and now is replaced with this...creepy child. No, more like a teenager who really needs to stop wearing bright colors if he wants people to take him seriously. He has a bright Chesire smile and...pulls a jar out of nowhere. I'm just not going to question the physics or logic of this. Its a waste of time. I've never been known as the smartest person anyway so really, should entrust that to somebody who actually knows what they're doing. "Put money in the swear jar and all can be forgiven. Sometimes people don't understand the true effect of swearing~"

"Do you keep that in your ass-"

"We should be happy together and friends! Which means you can do this simple thing!" The strange teenager still has that creepy smile. The jar itself is big and colorful, however without any actual money. On the side, the words swear jar is written largely and with even more colors. There are so many colors that my eyes are starting to hurt. I spend way too much time in dull rooms for this shit.

"Now Amaku, there is no reason to be so harsh with others. It is better to forgive and use your own experiences to help others than to extort them," Gennai lectures the young man. The boy, who I guess is named Amaku, doesn't listen, unmoving in his resolve.

"Why are all the students insane..." Monomi sighs. The weird rabbit man and Amaku together make the place look like something out of a cheesy storybook even six-year-olds find distasteful. How Ayano Kirigiri keeps finding different kinds of crazy is beyond me. There are not even that many people in the cities anymore, most try to make it in the villages mostly outside Committee rule or secretly part of Despair. Kotori estimates that as much as half the population is under the influence of despair and the Committee either doesn't give a shit or is too stupid to notice.

Amaku, or whatever his name is, is tall and, while not super muscular, more firm than I would suspect for somebody that dresses like him. He has peach-colored curly hair with yellow highlights pulled together by a pastel blue ribbon. Must spend some time outside because his pale skin has a lot of freckles, or maybe some of his family is from a part of the world where they're just naturally everywhere. His eyes are unusual since they look like they're pink and blue but that's not right. They must be purple or something, maybe the light is tricking my eyes. Adding to his childish creepiness, Amaku wears a pastel blue and purple sweater with a green bow tie. Who in their right mind wears a bow tie with a sweater like that? And then he wears bright orange pants. My least favorite color, great. Pretty sure he has shoes too but I can't them from this angle. Damn bar stools getting in the way.

"Gennai, you're too lenient with the younger generation." Heiwai hiccups. "Besides, I don't have any money on me. That bitch that tried to steal my stash took it from me. I was making my way to a bar and then bam, I'm stuck on a train-"

"You're being too mean, Heiwai! There are children around here...somewhere! That's not a very good thing to teach 'the younger generation.' I'm going to have to teach you a precious lesson!" And now Amaku has a knife. I should be more surprised than I am. Monomi jumps into my arms and is holding me for dear life. Isn't he supposed to be the one protecting us, as our teacher or some stupid shit?

"Amaku, put that knife down." Gennai gets up from his seat and slowly approaches Amaku. Amaku is entirely too focused on Heiwai to notice Gennai is literally right behind him.

"You're not even holding it correctly. That's how you cook, not hurt people," Heiwai criticizes. The combat medic then looks at Amaku again and drops his drink. The glass goes onto the floor and shatters. "Oh wait, shit, you got a knife! Kid, put that down! You don't know what you're doing!" Heiwai jumps out of his chair and knocks himself on the bar.

"Stop swearing!" Amaku threatens. His eyes look like they are swirling but not like that of despair. They stay the same color after all. Still having that damn smile on his face. I get the feeling that I should stay very far away from the newcomer. Monomi doesn't move or protest when I start to take steps back. "Or else, I'm going to cut out your tongue so you won't corrupt the innocence of youth!"

"This kid is insane-"

"I'm twenty!" Amaku protests. The manchild somehow makes pouting look threatening and adorable. Truly, that's the scariest thing about him. The people who smile always have worse intentions than those who frown. I know myself, better to play along with a smile on your face for control they believe you don't have. Really, people shouldn't trust a hypnotist. But they do anyway. Idiots.

...Wait a minute, how the Hell is this strange person older than me? Sometimes I truly think age is just a number.

"This has to be interesting," I comment. Really only Monomi takes notice. He finally gets out of my arms. Really, Monomi is much heavier than I thought he would be. I head over to the bar and find the only non-alcoholic thing they have. Apple cider. Because of course. I finally took a seat at one of the stools watching as those idiots may as well be burning the place down. Gennai and Heiwai should be questioning me and Monomi not having a useless quarrel that'll get nothing done. What a strange waste of time.

"Kazuma, you should be helping your classmates," Monomi instructs. But it's not important to listen to the useless teacher. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that he has no true power over anything.

"Excuse me...sirs? But may I please have help with this situation?" Gennai asks Monomi and I. I have been focusing on myself too often to realize that Heiwai and Amaku still haven't done anything.

"I can't be involved in anything that's violent!"

"Then go outside and get somebody!" Heiwai orders. Amaku doesn't give Monomi a passing thought as the wannabe rabbit escapes through the doors. What a coward. Humanity is filled with cowards that make despair and hope go unchecked. But that's not something I should complain about. As a fellow human, I too am cursed with cowardly blood. Those who forsake themselves entirely to despair or hope are the only ones who can escape our natural urge to run and hide. But those beasts can't be considered human anymore. "You do something too!"

"Now, all of us need to relax and not hurt each other. We all need to work together to find out how to get out of here and home safely. I'm sure my grandchild is wondering where I am." Gennai...is too good for this world. How does a frail old man have that mindset and live in this damned world? "Why I remember the first time Genma saw a knife. He screamed! Oh, it was such a fright, but we calmed down-"

"We don't need your stories, old man," I sigh.

"Hey, Kazuma! Why aren't you doing anything?" Heiwai questions me. Amaku still weirdly has not made a move with his smile only growing in size. Maybe I should've picked somewhere to sit very far away from him.

"It's not my problem-"

"He has a fucking knife!"

"That's it! Lesson time!" I hear the door open but don't see who's on the other side. Monomi must've actually gotten other people, so he's good for something. But no time for that, Amaku is finally going to stab a bitch. Blood is messy and death is cruel, but sometimes people need punishment to stop themselves from doing stupid shit. Heiwai should learn how to keep his mouth shut. It's not that hard to not swearing in front of a possible psychopath.

Amaku goes in for the hit but something blocks out. Or rather a somebody, a beautiful woman with blue hair.

"Sorry, I should have been more careful. You would be surprised that I usually do a better job at this, but, whoever is behind this kidnapping must have put drugs in my system to help them." The woman does not seem to care that she was stabbed, albeit slightly, in the shoulder. Three other women run-in with Monomi as well I see, with two of them being Hanami and Beni. Beni must have changed her mind. That increases her odds of survival. The type of people in charge of these don't exactly care for the types that only lock themselves in their room. The other woman has green hair. A lot of people here seem to have cooler colors for their hair.

"Riko!" Hanami shouts out when the other mystery woman points her in that direction.

"Young man, you shall follow the law!" Without warning, Norika runs through the doors, nearly knocking over the woman with green hair, and goes straight to Amaku. The judge jumps up and pulls the man from his ear, knocking the knife out of his hands in the process. "For that disturbance, I shall announce all the rules that state that attacking people not in self-defense is a bad thing to do! Children these days should know better!"

"But-"

"My own child would never pull anything like this." Norika steals all the spotlight in the room as she passes everybody else with Amaku. That woman sure knows how to create a scene. I take a single sip of my apple cider.

"What the Hell?" Heiwai asks. All the other women, besides the injured one, and Monomi go after Norika and Amaku.

"Perhaps you should learn how to swear a little less, Heiwai. It is not good for you do not have control over your mouth," Gennai suggests.

"This isn't the time for lectures." Heiwai goes down to the injured woman and immediately starts working on her wound. He works with such talent that can only be expected from the Honorary Ultimate Combat Medic. "You shouldn't jump in front of the blade like that. That type of behavior is only going to get you killed. And you seem pretty young, still have your whole life ahead of you. So don't do anything stupid and throw it all away just to save an old man like me."

"I am the one that is supposed to be protecting you. Oh, how rude of me! I have not introduced myself. My name is Riko Igarashi. The talent Makoto Kirigiri gave me is Honorary Ultimate Bodyguard."

* * *

 **Riko Igarashi**

 **Honorary Ultimate Bodyguard**

* * *

"Makoto Kirigiri? So you're part of the Future Foundation?" I ask Riko. Another one of those fools. The Future Foundation stopped being useful the moment Kazuo Tengan decided to be an idiot and investigate the possible despair video by himself. That one foolish action by a senile old man doomed the rest of the world to eternal suffering. But, then again, the rest of the idiots in charge were no better. Even Ruruka Ando was idiotic, don't know why the Committee decided to follow her lead out of everybody. And yet somehow it worked. Present-day hasn't changed this string of bad luck considering Ayano Kirigiri betrayed her entire family. She is probably coming up with a plan to kill every single last one of them right now.

"Yes, I am," she responds.

Riko looks to be slightly younger than middle-aged. Not really sure what Heiwai is talking about with her being so young, for she looks about ten years younger than him. But most people do not realize the remnants of dyed grey hairs or wrinkles starting to show around her yellow-green eyes. Most would think Riko to be in her late twenties because they refuse to pay any sort of meaningful attention to anything that's not boobs or ass. Her short hair is tied back in an efficient high ponytail. Riko's outfit is plain but functional with her boring matching grey blazer and slacks. This awfully efficient woman wears black flats with black socks. The only thing of notice is that she is remarkably slim for a bodyguard. There is still clear muscle but she's not jacked or anything.

"I was also given my talent by Makoto Kirigiri. Such a nice young man." Gennai isn't anything overly important like bodyguard so he's probably not officially part of the Future Foundation. Or, if the train conductor of all things is, lower down than Riko is presumed to be. Maybe Gennai can use his talent to make sure that we don't all die a miserable death on this death machine. But I'm sure Monokuma has thought this through, and would not allow such an event to happen.

"The world's crueler than the Future Foundation likes to think that it is. I remember once when I was forced to leave their men behind or else have the rest of my assigned squad die. How their blood-colored the dirt red as the Despairs happily shoot into their frail, fragile bodies without a hint of remorse, smiles forever haunting their dreams. One of the poor fools screamed out a name, I still remember it. Erika! That only made the Despair watch as he slowly bleeds out and take his knife and start carving his flesh with the name of the one he loved very much-"

"Let's think happier thoughts!" Gennai smiles genuinely and not like a creep. Amaku needs to learn a lesson from him.

"One of my co-workers just had a baby named Karen if that makes you feel better," Riko adds to the conversation. She is still relaxed and composed. Heiwai seems to be working on stitches. Riko has her blazer taken off to reveal a lighter grey dress shirt underneath.

"You don't get to change the conversation! Riko, you got to be more careful of yourself and make sure you get no other wounds. Make sure to take care of this one since we don't want it to get infected. I don't have that many supplies with me so be careful!"

"It's time for my lecture then," Riko awkwardly laughs. The three of them continue with easy conversation as I drink the rest of my apple cider in one gulp. Something then catches my eye. Nobody has noticed the knife that Amaku dropped. With two having combat-based talents, I would think them to be more observant. But the knife is pretty hidden to most not actively searching it out. Also, they are currently turned away from the object of notice. It got stuck somehow in the cushions of one of the love seats. I still wonder why the Hell this train has such a room. If they wanted to keep the budget, they could have completely gotten rid of the dance floor nobody will ever use.

The three of them take no notice of me, too busy with their meaningless conversation. I could very much take a knife to their throat with any of them noticing. What failures they are. My footsteps are light as I head over to the love seat. There in my hands is the knife. That will not do so I hide the weapon in my coat pocket. Perhaps I should leave before I do anything remotely suspicious. So I walk over calmly to the doors. I can't help the smile on my face. Finally some goddamn power in this place. This knife should make it so I will at least not die first.

I look back when I leave to see Riko staring at me.

* * *

Going through the bathing car, I find myself back in the seating car. Luckily there's no Yugi to be found. Inside, there's the girl that was with Hanami before, a new boy, and...Amaku. Somebody in the other group must trust those two enough to keep them in charge. But maybe we should keep a much better eye on Amaku considering he's the type to randomly attack people. Well, not random I guess, but swearing is hardly a reason to try to hurt somebody with a knife.

"I remember you!" Amaku notices me and jumps from the seat he was sitting on the top of. The other people are actually sitting normally, with the woman crossing her legs and the man relaxed. "We haven't introduced ourselves. Oh, you seem so much nicer than Heiwai! My name is Amaku Dokusei." Please stop smiling, it looks off-putting, especially on you Amaku. Even a person that cannot read emotions well can tell that there is something wrong.

"Let me guess, you too have a talent." Only Ultimates can be this weird. Most 'normal' people I meet in the world are not this colorful. Guess genius sometimes makes people insane. It's what makes them so much harder to control than the ordinary masses. The ordinary you just need to say the right thing and they're putty in your hands. One small video can change their outlook on everything without them even questioning it.

"You're so smart! I'm the Honorary Ultimate Baker!"

* * *

 **Amaku Dokusei**

 **Honorary Ultimate Baker**

* * *

"Don't let that smile fool you," the new man warns...while easily smiling himself. So many people here smile too much. "I'm pretty sure he can kill us all still with the same smile."

"No, I wouldn't. That's rude."

"You should not be trying to push Amaku's buttons even more," the girl warns. She stops crossing her legs. "We should all try to get along. Even beyond this...mishap, we can find a way to make each other useful. I highly doubt Amaku would even try to kill us all." I don't need to know her that well to tell that she has something to do with politics. The way she holds herself is way too haughty for my liking. This girl has more power and control than most people realize. Probably doesn't even realize herself, with most people in government these days being utter bastards.

"Not if we all swore," the man now smirks. He let out a soft chuckle afterward. Letting out a sigh, the man gets out of the seat he was in and comes to face me. "We haven't met as well. "The name's Jin Saeki. Honorary Ultimate Card Player."

* * *

 **Jin Saeki**

 **Honorary Ultimate Card Player**

* * *

"Boys will be boys. Who are you then?" The girl is entirely focused on me. She has not left her chair yet. At least she's right about boys being more untrustworthy. We were left alone in a room for five minutes and were already stabbing each other. But then again, women can't be trusted either. They always seem to have an ulterior motive.

"Kazuma Kaneshiro. Honorary Ultimate Hypnotist."

"Hypnotist? That's surely an unusual talent. Can you brainwash me, good sir?" Jin bats his eyelashes. The card player returns back to his seat, leaving me with Amaku and the woman.

"We don't brainwash with hypnotism. It's impossible. Under hypnosis, you can only do what you're comfortable with outside it," I inform. Too many people in this train confuse brainwashing and hypnotism. If I truly had that power, the world wouldn't know any Kotori Hiraokas. Everybody will be in peace as there would be no more needless suffering. Nobody has to deal with the Killing Games anymore. Of delusions given to them by those who preach for cults of despair and hope.

"I'm keeping my eye on you," Jin points to his yellow eye not covered by his eyepatch.

Jin himself is attractive for a man. People here must really love their ponytails since Jin's long brown thin hair is also in one. His aforementioned eyepatch, on his left eye, is white with a black ace symbol on it. None of these Honorary Ultimates are subtle with anything. Looking closely, I notice that there's a tattoo of a silver wing on the back of his right hand. He wears a dark blue casual dress shirt underneath a nice brown leather jacket. I really want that jacket. His jeans are tan and faded. And he also has brown loafer shoes. It seems like a lot of people on here like dressing a little bit formal of me. It makes me stand out like a sore thumb. But then again, Kotori always says I look like a fashionable 'hobo.'

"Stop needlessly getting yourself in potential trouble, Jin. I am not going to bust you out of another situation that you put yourself in."

"Machi, I can take care of myself," Jin responds. Machi, I believe, huffs.

"No, you can't. We all need to power of friendship to pull through!" Amaku responds. Oh no, don't be another person to preach about such dumb things. Friendship only hurts people in the end. Friends are what are used to blackmail and manipulate, not help and support many delude themselves into thinking that they are. Such delusional people in why the Committee is still in power. Since they believe that they can overthrow the government by giving speeches about worthless matters.

"Oh, I need to introduce myself as well. A pleasure to meet you, Kazuma, I am Machi Sakamoto. The talent I was given was Honorary Ultimate Bureaucrat."

* * *

 **Machi Sakamoto**

 **Honorary Ultimate Bureaucrat**

* * *

Machi herself is a beautiful woman. She has green hair that is put in a bun on the top of her head. Silver bobby pins can be seen keeping it all in place. Her eyes and eyebrows are a darker green, with her eyes being deep-set and framed by dark eyelashes. There is a beauty mark on the side of Machi's neck about the size of a quarter. Adding to the overly professional atmosphere of this group of people, Machi wears a black business suit. Only one silver button is buttoned in the middle of her jacket, revealing her sliver shirt. There is a watch hanging out of Machi's left jacket pocket that is silver and has an engraving of a rose on it.

"But I need you to answer a question, Kazuma. Who was that person following you?" Machi questions me. Finally, somebody notices that there is something wrong with that.

"A crazy person." Monomi still can't be trusted. Something is happening with him, and I would rather throw him off the train than have him live life with us. There are already not enough beds for all of us. Either the people in charge of this made a miscalculation, or somebody is here when they aren't supposed to be.

"You shouldn't talk about your teacher like that!" All of us jump when Monomi appears from nowhere. "I need to keep an eye on you, Kazuma! I can't believe I let my eyes off you for a single second! I suck at everything I do!"

"Hey, I'm the one who makes the keep 'my eye on you' comments." The card player's laughter, however, betrays his words. Jin's way too laid-back for a situation like this. Even though nobody else knows about the Killing Game yet, we're still kidnapped put onto a train somewhere nobody here knows. The snow outside becomes heavier with every passing minute. Maybe there's going to be a blizzard that starts soon.

"What is your name?" Machi now shifts her focus on Monomi.

"I'm Monomi! Your teacher-"

"I didn't drop out of school just to get back in again!" Jin complains.

"The more important topic at hand is where Amaku went," Monomi points out. Machi, Jin, and I just realized the disappearance of the little brat. Amaku must be really good at sneaking off if he didn't alert any of us. Although I just meet Machi and Jin, I get the feeling that both of them must be hard to fool. Card players and bureaucrats are both those who understand humanity and can't be trusted with it.

"Goddammit, we were distracted by weird bunny dudes. Come on, Machi, we got a job to do."

"He must've gone that way or Monomi would've said something." Without saying another word, Machi and Jin leave towards the way of the bathing car. And now I'm once again left with the most untrustworthy person on this damn train. Monokuma at least is honest about her despair. But, the more time I spend with Monomi, the more uneasy I am with him.

"These people are more organized than the usual participants. Hopefully, that means my students will all survive this time around! I want everybody to be free to go to the outside world without having to fear despair!" Monomi starts to preach. "The Killing Game ruins so many lives. But working together to overcome it will make you immortals! Not in the real sense, but you'll be remembered forever. And that's what a teacher truly hopes for in their students. Because, even if I'm forgotten, the lessons I taught will never be."

I decide to stay silent. Learning more about Monomi with his rants is a clever course of action. People like him have a bad habit of saying too much and getting everybody in trouble.

"The Killing Game is going to be tragic with the possible deaths of my students again, but it's something I can manage. Because, no matter what, I've you by my side." Monomi then directly looks in my eyes with his eyes swirling. "You betray me again, right?"

There's no way I can respond.

* * *

 **Committee Saga is off hiatus! And MoDE! HOORAY! Now to finally get out of Intro Hell. And join my Discord because we've got a lot of updates about what's happening with the series. And I swear to God we're cool. Just know my life has been Hell and I just haven't got as much time as I used to have. Thanks, Trigon.**

 **Once again, this is my first time writing a lot of these characters and I'm still getting used to them. If I mess anything up, just tell it to me and I'll fix it.**

 **God, my writing has improved so much from the last chapter.**

 **QOTC: What questions should I ask for these? I'm running out of ideas. XD**

 **Req's Rec: Nothing Valued is Here by XionKuriyama (GIVE LIZ ALL THE LOVE AND SUPPORT DAMMIT)**

 **Reviews~ (God, I missed replying to reviews, thanks you guys for all the reviews)**

 **ZiggyMia123-Yes, you have. Asahi is a mess and I love him. Beni is going to suffer because this is CS and we always torture the cinnamon rolls. You'll see how the roommate situation works out~ It's made to be purposefully easy for people to murder.**

 **Lupus Overkill-Yeah, now its officially off hiatus with a planned five chapters of intros (if you guys were curious). Kazuma is very interesting and debatably disturbed even before the events of the story. It's all Kotori's fault. Beni is going to be tortured and it's going to be wonderful. She's going to have more time, don't you worry. :3 Ivan is...Ivan, and Sasha the Second clearly is the best character here. Yugi is Yugi and he's going to cause so much chaos. Well, Kazuma now has a knife so that's fun. Amaku why. Asahi's true evil is causing me to have more typos. Put Asahi and Yugi in the same room together and everything's on fire. Norika is...Norika. I feel like I can say that about a lot of these characters. Here's a little bit more of Norika. Now here's a lot more of the old men because I love them. If that isn't weird enough, here's Monomi as well! MORE CHARACTERS HOORAY!**

 **tobi-is-an-artist-too-Norika is best girl. Gramps in best boy.**

 **TheRoseShadow21-Here's finally another update! Turns out the reason Asahi wasn't in this chapter is that Norika gave him a time out. Monokuma is a twist I'm proud of so I'm not saying anything else. Thanks so much, Rose! :D**

 **RioA-You're better than me with my nonexistent reviews. Thanks so much, these children are already trying to kill each other. Help them. Kazuma's arc is going to cause a lot of screaming and I'm going to love writing it. Beni was referenced in FoD, yes. Sasha the Second is a tracker because anime logic. Yugi will gladly set the train on fire. Asahi is surely going to make people feel...emotions with what I've planned with him. Norika blows up the world because JUSTICE! Gennai is precious and Heiwai is already drunk.**

 **AnonChan1-Kazuma has some meta knowledge, but, knowing what happened to Akita, that doesn't help much in this series. Kotori can make Hilter sympathetic with how much a piece of shit she is (okay not literally but you know). Fuck Kotori. Considering they're already trying to kill each other, it's going to be fun. Everything is wrong with Kotori. Ivan is adorable but his social skills need a lot of work. The dogs are stuck in the Afterlife Theatre. Somebody save Kazuma and rewrite the timeline dammit. Give Yugi all the hugs and hope they become less crazy. Yugi also has meta knowledge. Now they're going to do exactly that. The FoD kids will always be the ones that have to suffer the most. ASAHI WILL NEVER GO AWAY. He's Asahi. Norika and Asahi have such a fun dynamic and I've too much fun writing them in the same room together. Heiwai and Hotaru get in a drinking game together and the whole world ends. Monokuma is going to be...interesting. HEIWAI YES.**

 **ThePLOThand-Kazuma will never remove that stick from his ass. He likes that very much (heh). Yugi copies Kokichi and _oh God we gave them too much power._**


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